


Behind The Bars

by Cryssalia



Series: Nightmares [1]
Category: Night In The Woods (Video Game)
Genre: Abuse, Character Death(s), Gen, usage of drugs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-10-14 01:12:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10525785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cryssalia/pseuds/Cryssalia
Summary: Mae Borowski was Possum Springs’ troublesome stray until an animal shelter caught her. Adopted and returned countless of times, the shelter decided to put her down… until Bea Santello decided to step in.





	1. The Storm

**Author's Note:**

> First story for the NITW fandom and an AU too so, I’m sorry if it’s not good. This story is inspired by my cat, Julius who is now a huge lazy furbaby.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mae Borowski was Possum Springs’ troublesome stray until an animal shelter caught her. Adopted and returned countless of times, the shelter decided to put her down… until Bea Santello decided to step in.

A loud yowl pierced through the night and rain. Heavy footsteps chase after smaller ones, splashes of water drowns into the rain as if god doesn’t want anyone to know what happens.

Another yowl comes through; angry, agonizing, desperate. Aluminium cans falls over as a small figure runs out of one of the cans. The figure is cornered, trapped between a huge wall and two shadows looms over it.

A net is thrown. Yowls and hisses follows as it struggles. One of the larger figure approaches and scoops it up, “No more running for you, kitten,” a low growl comes through.

The cat in the net stops struggling, probably due to exhaustion or fear. Storm still brewing the town. The cat shivers and curls up, letting out soft mews. The net is slung over a shoulder and is taken into a van.

Damp, cold, dark, all the words runs inside her head. Her body shudders, her fur is wet and the floor is cold. She wouldn’t be surprised if she ever ends up sick.

Back to the prison. Cold, dark prison.

She doesn’t want to go back there again.

 

* * *

 

The smell of morning after the rain had passed is refreshing, calming you could say. The soft light of the sun rises from the horizon, a perfect time to take in some fresh air outside and say hello to the neighbors.

…or stay in bed in the weekends.

Which is something Bea Santello would gladly do.

As she lays in bed in a tank top & shorts and blankets over her body, due to how cold last night has been, she regretted to not wear long pants & a shirt with sleeves but she could care less.

Except the fact her clock has been buzzing for a while now.

A claw extends and knocks it off the nightstand. At least the sound of the impact startles her enough to elicit a groan from the woman and forces her to move to the edge of the bed. Opening an eye halfway, she glances down.

9:45 AM.

_Shit. Overslept again._

She picks up the digital clock and places it back on the nightstand before getting up. The gator yawns as she stretches herself and gets herself into the bathroom. Taking a quick hot shower and brushes her teeth, Beatrice gets herself ready for the day.

_The store ain’t gonna open by itself. Ugh._

Even on weekends like this, she must open the store.

She puts on her signature black dress and hangs an ankh necklace around her neck. She looks at herself in the dresser mirror. If she looks closely, she could see the bags under her half-opened eyes. As if her dull blue eyes aren’t enough to tell how tired she has been.

There’s no use complaining about it now. She has done this for years. So, she sighs. Last night’s coffee would be good enough to provide the energy for the day.

For the _day_.

She still needs energy for _night_ as well.

Chugging down a jug of coffee sounds like a good idea. Well, she was fixing to do that when she got to the kitchen, if only she didn’t glance at the clock.

9:58 AM.

_Ah, shit._

But she still chugged down the coffee like how she wanted to.

She grabs a box of cigarettes and lighter from the counter and heads for the door. Hastily puts on her boots, she puts a cigarette in between her lips and lights it up, inhaling some of the nicotine from it.

It doesn’t really go well with caffeine.

_Screw it._

Might as well, the horrible taste will keep her awake enough to go through the day.

 

* * *

 

Like any days in autumn, it is a very long day.

Well, for Bea at least.

Everything in her life **IS** a _very long day_.

Puffing out smoke, the smell of nicotine engulfs her and fills up her nostrils. It might have reached her brain and slowly killing her.

Eh, she wouldn't mind being dead. So long she didn't have to stand behind the register and check stocks in the store.

Ol’ Pickaxe has been standing for as long she could remember. She basically runs the store now, considering her father wouldn’t bother handling it himself. The tip of her tail taps on the floor to fill the silence in the empty hardware store.

She sits on a stool at the side and grabs a pamphlet from the counter. Might as well read while waiting for anyone to walk in. But the paper has been the same; all about the dead mines Possum Springs had once long time ago.

Possum Springs; a middle-of-nowhere-and-dying town. A hole which she would gladly leave, if it weren't for the fact that her father needs help from his only daughter. Stays on the couch, watching tv, drink or sleeps are the things he has done.

Ever since her mother died.

Of cancer.

Which she really doesn’t like talking about.

Or bother thinking about it.

So, her dad shuts down and, like it or not, she has to stay and help him recover; starting by taking over the shop.

Which is what some people would say.

_Ugh._

Bea sighs as the cigarette in her mouth has shorten. She takes it out and stamps it into the ashtray nearby, before taking out another cigarette from her dress pocket and lights it up as she places it against her lips.

Sucking in the smoke, she sighs heavily. Her shoulders slumps, the taste of unsweetened coffee still lingers in her mouth.

**It’s disgusting.**

_Eh, works for me_ , she thought.

The sound of the bell from the door rings. She looks up, seeing a familiar bear tipping his hat as he approaches her. “Good morning, Bea,” Angus says.

“Hey, Angus,” she says. Angus places his hat back on his head and his ears perks up.

“You look worse for wear. Is something the matter?”

“Stayed up late. Overslept. Drank a lot of coffee this morning and wish that I could die right now.”

“You do realize smoking _and_ coffee are bad together, yes?”

Bea shrugs. “Eh, so long as it keeps me awake. And I smoke to release my stress… which is all the time, mind you,” she says, squinting her eyes at him.

The man sighs and adjusts his glasses, “Then why not take up my offer, will you?” he says.

The gator is silent for a moment and Angus patiently waits for an answer.

But she already raises her hands. “I will _not_ have a pet, Angus. I have enough things in my hands and I do _not_ need a pet. I’ve been doing fine for quite a while now,” she protests.

It isn’t the first-time Angus suggested it. He has been telling her to get a pet, said it will help her to release her stress much effectively and they can be a good friend to her.

But also, there will be more mouths to feed.

As if her father isn’t enough to look after for.

She turned them down so far, but the more she did, the more frequent Angus brings it up to pique her interest.

Angus sighs once again. “Well, if you already decided that then. But could I ask a favor from you then?”

“Uh… sure, I guess. What is it?”

“Come with me to the shelter.”

Bea stares, trying to process what he just said, “…what?”

“Come with me to the shelter,” he repeats. Her blue eyes squint at him again as if trying to eat him whole.

“Angus, I told you-…”

“I’m getting a pet for myself, Bea. And the shelter is at the other side of town so I need a ride from you.”

She was going to say something about it but she decided not to. She had seen the shelter once when she went there to deliver the tools they ordered. It is pretty far from where she lives and if it isn’t for Angus’ asthma, she would’ve turn it down.

Plus, she’s driving.

She can get out of work early since she’s the only one in the store today, like always.

So, she agrees.

She’s not the one that’s adopting… right?

 

* * *

 

Cold. It was literally cold when she steps inside the shelter. The inside, unusually, looked no different from a medical center and the air conditioner’s air is so strong she could’ve died from freezing to death here. It was white, excluding some plants, toys and magazines on the coffee table.

This place reminds her of the hospital.

She hates it.

Angus goes up to the reception while Bea decides to stay in the lobby to read the magazines as she waits. He’s led to the back by the receptionist, who is a goat. Already, she’s bored after leafing through few pages of the magazine in her hand. She closes it and was fixing to light up a cigarette, but the shelter has a strictly “No smoking” policy.

_Great._

So, her tail taps on the floor impatiently. She looks around, trying to take in the interior and sighs. She really hopes Angus would be quick because she’s bored to death.

Which is not, the kind of death she wanted.

_Eh, whatever._

Still, she looks around and her eyes settles on a cage. An obvious black cage amongst the whiteness of the walls and floor. There’s was someone, or _something_ in the cage curling up.

_Is it one of the pets? Did it just get here?_

She gets up and approaches, kneeling next to the little cage. Whatever’s inside is shielded by a cloth so she pulls it off. A cat. A small, navy blue cat wearing a brown and red shirt and black pants. The tip of the hair is red along with it's tail, which wraps around it nicely.

And covered its face.

Bea makes sure no one’s around before she gently pokes the cat with her claw. The ears twitch and she immediately pulls away, slightly shaking the cage when her claws hit the bars. The ears perk up; she could see the right ear was notched, making it look like a bite mark.

The cat yawns and stretches itself as much as it could. It opens it's eyes, which are larger than any normal cats she has seen in the neighbourhood. Red eyes, brighter than Bea’s, blink several times before they stare at the young gator.

“Can I help you, miss?” A gruff voice greets from behind. She turns to see a bear, much older than Angus. She could see the faint wrinkles on his face and a name tag on his shirt written; Hank, dressed in all white, so she assumed he’s the vet. She scratches the back of her head.

“Just… checking this little fella here,” she says.

“Oh… I’m sorry, but she’s not up for adoption anymore.”

This pique her curiosity a bit. She looks up to the older bear. “What do you mean by that?”

Doctor Hank lets out a heavy sigh. He seems reluctant. Bea was about to say something but the man cuts her off, “She had to be put down,” he says with a low voice.

Those words… ‘put down’, are _poison_ to her ears. Irritating, _hurt_. Her usually tired, dull blue eyes widens in shock. She glances at the cat in the cage who now tries to stand, but she couldn’t due to how small the space she’s in. But she stares, beaming at her.

“Is… she sick?” Because that’s the only reason a doctor would be putting down someone. Sickness, a terrible sickness that has no cure.

Like cancer.

Like her mother.

Shit, why the hell does she have to remember that?

“It’s more to her behavior. She’s… too violent, even to other pets in this shelter. It’s one of the reasons why she’s inside the cage instead at the back with the rest.”

Behavior? Violent? Is that why they want her dead?

“She’s that bad?” Bea asks, her tone hardened without she realizes.

Doctor Hank notices that and sighs, “She has been adopted four times this month and returned in the same day. The longest she’s ever been with a foster family is a whole day. But the next day she was returned. And the complains are the same; stealing food, bully others and vandalizes homes,” he explains.

Those things should have be enough to convince Beatrice to not adopt a pet. But she kept glancing at the cat, who now approaches the bars and reached one of her paws to her. Bea doesn’t move, not even when the cat grabs one of her claws.

Curious like a child, she thought. She has seen other pets who are a lot larger than her, even other cats in the neighborhood. She looks innocent enough to not cause all that.

Well, maybe she would but it couldn’t have been on purpose.

Right?

“What’s her name?” Bea asks.

“Pardon?”

“Her name. What is it?”

“Mae Borowski. 20. But too small despite her age. Probably a disease regarding to her growth.”

Dwarfism, she thought. That could be it. Maybe. She’s not very keen with all those medical terms. She looks at Mae for a moment and unexpectedly, she opens the cage. Doctor Hank tries to stop her but he stood at the side when Bea holds up her hand.

Mae crawls, no, rolls out of the cage like a ball and sits up to look at Bea. The gator gently pets her, her fur is oily and sticky. She feels slightly upset by how Mae was treated, even though Hank said she will be put down.

Poison. Those words are poison.

Behaviors can be fixed.

_She_ can be fixed.

Bea looks back at the man. “I’m adopting her.”


	2. The Little Mischief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bea accidentally adopted Mae after hearing the predicament she would go through. She slowly regretting her decision… or perhaps this is a new step for a better life?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regarding to a question, yes, everyone is an anthro in this AU. The ones in the shelter are slightly different in terms of height, that's all. Also, they can talk.
> 
> "But then, what's the point of the shelter?"
> 
> Credit to Fuzzinator23 for proof reading this story.

“I’m adopting her.”  
  
 **What the hell are you doing, Beatrice?**  
  
“Think carefully, miss. Do you really want to bring her back to your home?”  
  
 **You can barely look after yourself or your dad. And you want to keep this little troublemaker?**  
  
 _Oh, shut the hell up._  
  
“If no one’s keeping her, then I will,” she says.  
  
Hanks takes a while to process what the gator has said. The bear stares at her, and slowly his gaze goes to Mae. The cat stood behind Beatrice, who could feel her trembling behind her legs. The bear sighs.  
  
“…I shall prepare the paperwork then,” he says and excuses himself into a room next to the reception.  
  
When Doctor Hank was finally gone from Bea’s sight, she begins to realizes what she has done.  
  
She. Is. Adopting.  
  
 _Oh god, why?_  
  
She feels something tugging her dress and she looks down. Mae beams at her and raises her arms, as if presenting herself. “We’re gonna be besties!” she exclaims.  
  
Bea could feel the colours on her face drains out, leaving the white behind. Or feeling herself turning into stone and slowly crumbling into tiny pieces which she wishes that could happen. Anything but the thought of having Mae in her care.  
  
So, she looks down to the cat. Her huge eyes shine bright as she stares, waiting for the gator to respond. Bea gulps and, for some reason, she’s nervous.  
  
 _Is she really 20?_  
  
 _She looks effing 10!_  
  
“I’m Mae! What’s your name?” she introduces herself.  
  
And Bea just stood there, letting the cat wait for her. She didn't know if she should tell her or change her mind about adopting.  
  
But her eyes looked so hopeful. Doctor Hank might have prepared the necessary paper work. The only thing that’s wrong about her is her behavior.  
  
 **She’s going to be put down, Beatrice.**  
  
 _She’s not letting them do that to Mae._  
  
“Beatrice…” She answers. Mae beams again and jumps. Her arms are up in the air. Maybe because of the excitement or she’s just hyper but she keeps them up.  
  
She wants her to pick her up.  
  
 _…she’s definitely 10, alright._  
  
Yet, Bea picks her up and the cat immediately clings on her when Doctor Hank comes back.  
  
With Angus behind him… and a fox sleeping in his arms.  
  
Bea’s eyes squints at her friend when his ears perk up, surprised to see Mae clinging to her, but also forms a smile on his face.  
  
She could just knock his lights out on the spot.  
  
“So,” Doctor Hank begins. “about your adoptions…”

 

* * *

  
  
“I am blaming you 100% for this, Angus!” Bea growls. The bear next to her looks at her, pretending not to understand. Mae was in the back seat with the fox, named Gregg, sleeping. Gregg is a lot bigger than Mae; half of Angus’ size, she figured, while Mae is half of Gregg's size. Gregg wears like a biker, leather jacket, pants and boots.  
  
Well, Gregg is Angus’ problem. Not hers.  
  
She still doesn’t understand, why is she part of this.  
  
“Whatever do you mean, Bea?” he says. The gator glances at him, blue eyes squints at him.  
  
“Is this your plan all along?” she says. “You told me that you were the one adopting, not me.”  
  
“Well, there’s Gregg. I’m genuinely surprised to know you adopting. And Mae, of all people.”  
  
Bea huffs and focuses on her driving for a moment. She glances to the mirror to see the two at the back, but more to Mae. “Sounds like you know about Mae.”  
  
“Mostly from rumours,” he starts, “the employee told me that Mae actually attacked one of the staffs. Andy Cullen if I recall. She had to be isolated from others to avoid similar accidents.”  
  
“By keeping her in a cage?” Bea hisses, which silenced the bear for a moment.  
  
“They need to be supervised, Bea. That’s why the shelter exist.”  
  
The gator sighs. She heard about this over the news before; minor species need to be supervised and shelters are the first step to do so.  
  
Although Bea often sees cats and dogs roaming in Possum Springs and in other town, there’s no way the government would ignore them here considering a shelter is at the end of this town.  
  
She glances to the mirror, to the back at Mae and Gregg.  
  
Mostly to Mae, since she has been adopted and returned many times.  
  
She feels a little sympathy to the cat.  
  
Bea slowly stops the car in front of the Video Outpost “Too”. “Shit, missed your stop, big guy,” she says.  
  
“It’s alright. It’s not that far anyway. Thanks for the ride, Bea,” Angus tips his hat and exits the car. He opens the back door and carefully pick up Gregg. He carries the fox on his back and walks to the red building next to the video store.  
  
Bea sighs and continues down the road to her apartment. It was a short drive after all. She parked in front of her home and glances to the back seat, seeing Mae stirring awake. The cat sits up and rubs her eyes.  
  
“Are we at your home now, Bea?” she asks tiredly.  
  
Bea sighs, “I wouldn’t kill the engines if we weren't,” she says and tucks her keys into her dress pocket. “Here’s the thing, Mae. I need you to be quiet. I don’t want my dad knows about you.”  
  
“You live with your dad?”  
  
“More to ‘I live above him’.”  
  
“Why would you live alone if your dad’s still around?”  
  
“Look, just do what I told you okay?” Mae decided to comply to what the gator asks of her and makes a zipping motion over her lips. Bea sighs heavily and the cat jumps to the front seat, climbing onto her shoulder. Bea exits the car and carries the cat by her side, like holding a sack of potatoes.  
  
Mae doesn’t seem to mind.  
  
But she does keep glancing up at Bea.  
  
It makes her extremely uncomfortable, considering the cat looked like a ten-year-old and everyone would think it’s child abuse for carrying in such manner.  
  
So, Bea carries her like any normal person would carry a kid.  
  
She walks into the apartment and up the stairs, she goes, no, creeps to her room. She could hear her father snores as she passes a room at the second floor and up to the third.  
  
Mae carefully studies a door that was obviously Bea’s; a black door with an ankh on it.  
  
It’s the most obvious door in the floor. There’s no way anyone could miss it.  
  
Bea unlocks the door and drops Mae. The cat walks in.  
  
And immediately goes for the couch.  
  
“Well Mae, this is my-... what the hell are you doing?”  
  
It is a bit too late when Mae starts to scratch on the side of the couch. Bea could hear the fabric ripped as she pulls the cat away.  
  
And yes, there is a very… huge rip. Almost look like a giant scar.  
  
The color from her face slowly leaves her face again but she quickly shakes her head and growls. She lifts the cat so they are looking at each other, eye to eye. “What the hell was that for!?”  
  
“What for?” Mae gasps, sort of in a mocking way. “Isn’t it normal for people to check if their couches are comfortable or not?”  
  
“You. Were. Scratching. My. Couch. You should’ve just sit on it instead!”  
  
Mae shrugs and the gator could feel like snapping her jaws onto the cat. But then again, it has been a long day and she needs to do some college courses and to check the shops account so she would have enough money to pay the workers by the end of the month.  
  
And get paid herself.  
  
She places the cat back down and Mae tilts her head. She sighs, “You know what? Whatever. Just… sit here and watch tv. No scratching. I’ll get dinner ready,” she says.  
  
“You can count on me, Bea!” Mae climbs onto the couch and turns on the tv with the remote. Her eyes brighten, “Oh good! Garbo and Malloy is on!”  
  
Count on her? She couldn’t leave her alone without looking back at her twice.  
  
Yet, she does and goes to the kitchen. Since she’s not in the mood for cooking, frozen pizza works best for tonight.  
  
Still, she needs to check on her father downstairs.  
  
 _Great._  
  
She heated up a box of pizza in the microwave for half an hour and opens her laptop. She could get a course done by the time the pizza is thawed and cooked.  
  
And so, she sits at the dining table and did her work. She could hear Mae’s laugh over the sound of tv. She looks over and sees the cat still on the couch, watching Garbo and Malloy.  
  
Her eyes slowly averted towards the tear on the couch.  
  
 _It’s only a tear. It can be sewn,_ she thought.  
  
She sighs and continues going through her course until thirty minutes are up on the microwave. She gets up and takes out the heated pizza out. Bea didn’t hear footsteps walking into the kitchen and she almost jump onto the counter when Mae is standing next to her.  
  
“God, Mae! Don’t do that!” she yells.  
  
Mae smiles mischievously. “Do what?”  
  
Bea only mumbles under her breath and huffs. She was lucky enough to have placed the pizza on the table before the cat entered.  
  
“Nothing. Dinner’s ready,” she says as she opens the box, grabbing a slice of the pepperoni pizza.  
  
Mae stares at the gator as she eats, causing minor disturbance to her.  
  
 _C’mon, her eyes are huge!_  
  
 _Yeesh…_  
  
“What?” she says. Mae grins.  
  
“Carry me.”  
  
“Say what now?”  
  
Mae doesn’t answer, but she raises her arms to her. Bea’s half-opened eyes squints and the pizza in her mouth couldn’t get through her throat.  
  
She must be joking.  
  
“There’s a chair. Climb on it.”  
  
“Do you really want me on the table, Beatrice?”  
  
The gator stares at her and looks at the chair for a moment. She calculates her height in her head; Mae is an inch or two shorter than the table if she stands.  
  
But she’s can’t reach anything if she sits.  
  
She grabs a slice from the box and hands it over to Mae instead. The cat is disappointed.  
  
“Aww… you’re no fun, Bea,” she says.  
  
“I am aware of that myself.”  
  
Mae puffs her cheeks and snatch the slice from her, munching on it. Her tail wags, showing more of her disappointment.  
  
For some reason, Bea finds that cute.  
  
 **Hello, Beatrice. Forgetting someone?**  
  
 _Crap._  
  
“Uh… Mae? I’m going to check on my dad. Can you NOT do anything before I get back?”  
  
Mae looks up at her, squinting her eyes. “What if I want to eat?”  
  
“It won’t take long. Just… don’t do anything, okay?”  
  
Bea is already walking out of the door before Mae had the chance to say anything. The door shuts, and leaves Mae all alone in the apartment.  
  
Mae walks back to the living room; dark and sullen. Other than the kitchen, there are barely any lights in the apartment. The tv screen gives off some colours and lights up the room a bit. Her eyes slowly adjust to the darkness, and the first thing that catches her attention is a photo frame on the coffee table.  
  
She goes there and watches it from far, squinting her eyes to see it clearly.  
  
Three people; a man, a woman and a child. They are happy. They are together. Especially the woman.  
  
 _She looks like Bea_ , Mae thought.  
  
She guesses the man is Bea’s father. He looks energetic in the photo and grins. She doesn’t know how he looks now but since Bea and her dad live separately, something must’ve happened between them.  
  
But what happened to Bea’s mom?  
  
"At least she still has a family though," Mae told herself. Her ears droops. She backs away from the table and sits on the couch. She stares at the door, waiting for her new friend to come back.  
  
 _You can’t ruin this, Mae. Not again…_  
  
She would do what Bea wants her to, but she’s still hungry.  
  
There is no one around to give her food.  
  
And so, she goes back to the kitchen and pushes the chair closer to the table. She climbs the chair… and onto the table she stands.  
  
Bam, the pizza is hers!  
  
She opens the box and literally eats the whole pizza in a matter of minutes.  
  
By the time Bea comes back, Mae is lying on the table and sighs in satisfaction. The gator could see the empty pizza box on the floor and her laptop slowly reaching the edge as Mae unconsciously kicks it.  
  
With the door still left open, Bea immediately runs for it and manages to catch it before it lands on the floor tragically.  
  
She is literally trembling as she checks for any damage.  
  
The laptop is safe.  
  
 _Oh, thank god._  
  
Bea sighs heavily and glares at the cat. Mae soon notices her friend when she rolls over and her eyes brighten in joy. She sits up and throws her arms in the air, “BeaBea!” she yells.  
  
Beatrice freezes. She hadn’t heard that nickname for a long time, since senior year.  
  
Since her mother died.  
  
This softens her heart as she looks at the cat. The cat that she ‘accidentally’ adopted after she heard her situation.  
  
 _“God bless you, Miss Santello…”_ Was what Doctor Hank told her before they left the shelter.  
  
“Bea?” Mae calls softly and snaps her out of her trance. She sighs and closes her laptop, placing it back on the table.  
  
“Time to give you a bath, kiddo,” she says and carefully picks her up.  
  
“Aww… but I don’t wanna!” she whines.  
  
She starts to struggle even more when Bea brings her into the bathroom. The gator quickly closes the door and, since Mae refused to take her clothes off, she throws the cat into a tub full of water.  
  
Of course, the cat screamed and flailed her paws like a mad man, splashing water all over the floor.  
  
And onto Bea.  
  
Eh, she needed a bath too.  
  
When Bea decides to climb into the tub, this somewhat calms the cat down, but Mae still shows discomfort of having water touching her fur.  
  
“That wasn't so bad, now was it?” Bea says.  
  
“It messes up my fur…” she mumbles.  
  
Bea rolls her eyes and wash her as best as she could. Washing fur is not her expertise so she finishes up quickly. She gets herself and Mae out of the tub and takes off Mae’s clothes. The cat wraps her tail around herself and Bea hands her a towel.  
  
“Dry yourself up. I’ll be outside with you,” she says. The cat complies and wrapping herself with the towel, she walks out and the door shuts behind her.  
  
Now the room she just entered isn’t the living room anymore, but she’s not that stupid to not know it's a bedroom. There is a bed, a nightstand with a lamp and clock, a dresser, that’s pretty much it.  
  
She dries herself up and wraps the towel around herself again. The smell of smoke was strong in here and it makes her nose itch. She glances to the door behind her and she could hear the shower running.  
  
Mae sighs. She has to wait again and waiting is not in her book. Plus, she’s cold. She needs something to wear.  
  
She goes to the dresser and opens the bottom drawer.  
  
All she sees are folded. Black. Clothes.  
  
She huffs. Still, she needs something to wear so she pulls out one of them. She drops the towel and puts on the piece of clothing.  
  
It’s a dress, one of Bea’s dress.  
  
It was over-sized and she could barely move in it. She kept falling since she kept stepping on it. She had no clue where she’s going either.  
  
“What the hell?” she hears Bea’s voice and immediately scurries away, hitting face first into the dresser.  
  
Bea snorts and chuckles softly while Mae groans. She hears footsteps getting closer but she doesn’t feel Bea’s hands on her. So, she struggles to find the collar and sticks her head out when she finally found it. Bea is in a tank top and pants instead, much different from the Bea she sees a while ago.  
  
“You can’t wait even for a minute, can you?” Bea says as she kicks the bottom dresser close and opens the top one. She takes out a set of clothes, blue instead of black and places them on the bed. She gets Mae out of the dress and puts the pajamas on her instead.  
  
A bit loose, but much more comfortable and her size.  
  
She looks up to see the gator yawn but heads for the door. She tilts her head. “Where’re you going?” she asks.  
  
“Got work to do. You can sleep here if you want.”  
  
“Can you sleep with me?”  
  
Bea stops and glances at the cat. She is giving her pleading eyes, or at least that’s what she thought.  
  
This is all too familiar.  
  
It hurts.  
  
She sighs, “You’re twenty. You've slept alone before-…”  
  
“I don’t want to sleep alone again…” She is quiet on this one. More like murmuring. Bea pauses.  
  
 _She had been adopted four times this month and returned in the same day…_  
  
She hesitates for a moment but she turns back to her. “Alright, I’ll sleep with you…” she says.  
  
This made the cat smile and jumps onto the bed. Bea lays down next to her and Mae immediately hugs her arm as she pulls the covers over them.  
Mae purrs softly and snuggles closer.  
  
It is comforting and soothing to Bea.  
  
“Goodnight, BeeBee…” she murmurs.  
  
It is almost an instant the cat falls asleep. Bea only watched for the moment, playing with her red hair gently so she wouldn’t wake her up. She seems so peaceful and calm, a lot different from what she heard from Doctor Hank and Angus.  
  
Mae Borowski, huh? Maybe this could be a new record for her.  
  
 _…Borowski? The name sounds familiar…_  
  
 _But from where?_  
  
She yawns and her eyes grows heavy. She glances at the clock; 8:34PM. It’s earlier than usual. She can’t believe she’ll be sleeping early.  
  
 _Oh well, better not throw this chance away._  
  
So she closed her eyes for good and sighs. For the first time, it is satisfaction.  
  
“Goodnight, Maeday…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think of the tags?


	3. Trying Hard to Forget

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mae’s destructive behavior has started to emerge and Bea expects it to send her on edge. But the cat’s action sometimes reminds her of her younger self… which can either be a good or bad thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story’s pace will go like how the game goes so expect a lot of filler and side stories in this. Credit to Fuzzinator23 for proof reading this story.

“BeeeeeeBeeeee~!”

The only response she gets is a soft groan as the gator tosses and faces away from her. The cat huffs. She has been trying to shake her friend awake for a while now and she hasn’t gotten any proper reaction.

She looks around and her eyes land on the dresser. A mischievous grin plastered her face as she gets off the bed and climbs up to the top of the dresser. She carefully balances herself and faces the bed. Her brain calculates the distance as she looks at where Bea is.

She doesn’t have to think twice about it. Her tail wags, legs bend and she jumps. “Cannonball!!”

And lands on Bea’s back. Hard.

“GAH!”

Mae feels her friend trembling beneath her and looks down, tapping her head gently. “Bea~? Are you awake?” she calls.

“M-my… spine…” Bea croaks and she could feel tears running down her eyes due to the pain. The cat rolls off her back and lays down beside her. The gator groans and places her arm behind her as she pushes herself up.

Her eyes averted towards the cat next to her, gritting her teeth to see her grinning instead. “Did you… r-really have to do… that!?” Bea struggles to toss herself over so her back would be on the mattress instead and the only helpful thing Mae do is to give her space.

Bea huffs and stretches herself slowly. Her back ached but not as bad as she first felt it. She stops moving and stares at the ceiling, thinking about every bit of her life up to this point.

“You didn’t wake up when I shook you so the cannonball was the only solution!” Mae exclaims, throwing her arms in the air.

Her taller friend glares, a bit strained due to her aching back. Her eyes then search for the clock on the nightstand.

It wasn’t there. Not even the lamp.

“…Mae? Where’s the clock?” she asks. Mae glances at where the gator looks and tilts her head.

“What clock?”

“My effing digital clock! It was on the night stand last night and now it’s gone along with the lamp!

At this point, Mae’s eyes avoided Bea’s but it is obvious that she’s hiding something. Bea squints her eyes and slowly moves towards the edge. Her jaws drop to see the lamp shattered on the floor and the clock beneath it.

Ignoring the pain in her back, her claw reaching out to the remains and rummaging through the broken glass to retrieve the clock. It was cracked, but still readable.

4:25AM…

She wouldn’t think dropping the clock right now is a good idea if she doesn’t know the time. Four in the morning… Four. In the. Effing. Morning!

_Okay, Bea. Relax. It’s only a lamp. And the clock is fine. You don’t even use the lamp._

That’s what she tells herself.

Bea moves to the other side of the bed and gets off from there. The pain in her back finally goes away and she should get started to clean the glass.

But then, she feels paper under her feet.

“What the…?”

Paper scraps scattered on the floor like flower petals and lead to the door.

Which she didn’t notice was slightly ajar.

_Oh, shit._

With a heavy gulp, she follows the trail and pushes the door open. Her tired eyes immediately shoot open; a pile of paper scraps in the lounge, scratches on the couch that made the frame visible.

“Weeee!” Mae cheers as she runs pass her and jumps into the pile. The paper scatters on the floor like leaves in the fall. The cat rolls around, letting the paper cover her body.

Bea’s grip on the door frame was so tight, she could just yank it off and crush it. Her tail wags, showing great discomfort on the sight.

_What is this, a war zone?_

While Mae doesn’t seem to be bothered by her taller friend’s glare, she looks up to her and tilts her head. She grins, with faint twinkles in her eyes as she tries to look cute and buy her way out of it.

_Well that didn’t work,_ Mae thought, since the gator didn’t seem to change her expression as she picks her up. Their eyes meet; blue eyes with red eyes. Mae’s ears twitches and perks up, an idea comes through.

Before Bea has any chance to say anything, Mae’s ears slowly droop and she gives her sad eyes. Her tail wraps around herself and her whiskers droops along. She did what she hasn’t done for a long time.

She mews.

Bea freezes. Her mind goes blank, like, literally. Did she hear what she really thinks it was? No, it really is…

She effing mewed.

Her still body slowly trembles. The corner of her mouth tries to curve upright but she restrains herself. She can’t surrender, not after what she has done to her apartment.

But her ears, her eyes and tail. And… and her mew.

She could feel her cheeks reddened in embarrassment. A shaky sigh escapes her lips and her body relaxes. “…are you hurt?” she asks. Mae shakes her head.

Bea places her on the couch and pets her gently. “Don’t do anything. I’ll clean up the mess,” she says and goes back into her room.

Now Mae was genuinely surprised. Normally, people would just kick her right out of their house or send her back to the shelter, not even after she had done all the cute stuff. They wouldn’t bother if she’s hurt or not as long as she’s gone.

Mae does what Bea tells her; do nothing. Her eyes look at the mess she made; the papers and the damaged couch. Her ears droop and she frowns.

_You done it again, Mae… You woke her up early in the morning with a painful back and now she had to clean your mess up. No wonder they want to put you down._

Mae slumps down on the couch with a groan, her paws over her face. For once, she feels miserable for doing that. She stays on the couch for a moment before her eyes peek out from between her paws to see the paper mess.

_That’s something I could clean up, right?_ She thought.

So, she gets off the couch and goes to gather up the paper pieces in one place. Her tail sweeps up the small bits and gathers them in the pile. Oddly, she feels satisfied when everything is in place.

She stares at them, the urge to jump into them are just too strong to ignored. Still, she has to restrain herself. She was supposed to do nothing, like what Bea told her.

_But it’s a good thing. She wouldn’t get mad if I do good, right?_

Mae sighs. She doesn’t want to take a risk to do more damage, so she climbs back up onto the couch and does nothing. The bedroom’s door opens and Bea walks out with a broken lamp and glass on a doormat, she thinks, and into the kitchen.

She could hear Bea grumble to herself and her ears slowly droops. _Is she mad?_  She thought.

She didn’t want to be send back.

No, she didn’t.

Mae stays silent and waits. She slumps down on the couch again, both in guilt and boredom. She hears soft footsteps coming in and Bea kneels near the papers, brushing them into the dustpan. She goes back and forth into the kitchen and the lounge until the mess was cleaned up.

Bea sighs in relief. She comes back into the lounge, hands free from everything and takes a seat on the torn couch.

That’s another thing to be worried about. .

Oh, well…

“Bea?” The cat calls. Bea turns, concern in her eyes. “What happened to your hands?”

She doesn’t answer immediately and glances down at her bandaged hands. “Oh… got glass cuts. I’ll be fine, kiddo,” she says.

Mae frowns deeply, “A-are you going to send me back then?” she mutters.  

Bea pauses. She is loss on words for a moment. “Why… would I do that?”

“Because that’s what people do if I mess things up. The worse is they’d left me in the streets…” Her voice is soft. There is a hint of tears near the end.

Bea felt nervous. She’s no expert when it comes to others crying. The last she ever cried was during the funeral and that’s it. And barely anyone tries to comfort her…

Still, one thing she knows is she can’t let the cat shed a tear. Not here, not in front of her.

She hates people crying.

“I won’t do that.”

Mae looks up surprised. “You… won’t?”

**Uh oh. What are you doing? Do you still want to keep her?**

_The hell are you-…_

**Real talk, Beatrice. This is only a small scale of destruction. What happens if you keep her for a week? A month? A YEAR?!**

Bea looks at Mae, contemplating of the things she has done so far. Broke the lamp, scratched the couch and tore up some papers and luckily nothing important is damaged.

**That doesn’t mean it won’t happen again, right? This could be your only chance.**

The gator’s tail shifts uncomfortably and Mae notices. Her expression changes and her ears droop again.

**It’s not that hard. Pick her up and send her back to the shelter.**

“I won’t do that.” The words escaped her lips again. Mae looks up, hopeful.

**Hey, that’s not-…**

_Go to hell._

“You hungry, Mae? I mean, I don’t usually cook in the morning but uh… you did say you woke up early…” she says. Those words make the cat’s ears shot up and twitches in excitement. Mae smiles.

And Bea smiles too.

“Can I pick what we’re gonna eat?” Mae says.

“Huh… well, knock yourself out. But just point out the ingredients. I’ll do the cooking.”

The cat throws her arms in the air and her eyes beams in excitement. Bea chuckles and follows her into the kitchen, where she already jumps to reach the handle on the fridge. The gators sighs and the moment she opens it, Mae points out the eggs and bacons.

Bea glances at the wall clock; 5:03AM. Earlier than usual.

**Would be nice to stay in bed for few more hours, is it?**

_Just shut up already._

A simple plate of eggs and bacon fills the stomach for the morning. Mae had to sit on Bea’s lap so it would be easier for the taller woman to feed her.

She lets out a contented purr and her ears twitched happily. Bea often had to avert her eyes away whenever Mae stared up at her as she waits to be fed and endures the ordeal until the cat finishes.

She jumps off Bea’s lap and stands close to the table as the gator finished up her meal and washes the dishes. Mae watches, unbeknownst to her caused discomfort towards Bea. Bea quietly clears her throat and tries to keep her cool.

By the time she’s done cleaning, Mae wanders off in the dark lounge. Bea immediately follows, hoping to prevent any damage the cat would do.

Mae is already holding something in her paws. She turns on the lights and reveals the picture frame in her grip.

Bea snatches it from her in an instant. Her eyes are sharp, glaring down at Mae, “Don’t ever touch this,” she growls.

Mae frowns. She doesn’t seem to be bothered by her glare. There’s concern in her eyes as she looks at Bea, “Where’s your mom?” she asks.  

Bea rolls her eyes, “Why do you care?” she scoffs.  

Mae doesn’t answer. She stares, her frown is still there. Bea sighs and puts the frame on top of the tv. “Don’t do anything,” she says and enters her bedroom. Mae stood there and glances up to the picture frame.

_Way to go, Mae. Things just started to go good and you just had to ruin it_  

Mae frowns deeply on her own thoughts. She climbs onto the couch and wraps her tail around herself, slowly slumping down to curl up.  

In the bedroom, Bea sighs softly as she sits on her bed. Donning a black shirt for today and puts on her ankh necklace. She lights up a cigarette and inhales, tasting the nicotine before releasing the smoke through her nostrils.

This calms her nerves and mind enough to think rationally. She shouldn’t have snapped at Mae like that. Mae was curious, that’s all.

**No, she’s being nosy. That’s what.**

_She doesn’t know. She’s curious. She just got here._

**Well she should’ve known not to touch anything unless you let her. No respect, at all.**

_It’s not her fault, dammit!_

Those words escape her mouth as well. She huffs, smoke puffing out of her nostrils again. She glances at the door. It’s quiet out there.

**Maybe she ran away?**

Bea scrambles to her feet and leaves the room. Her eyes scan the whole apartment and they settled on Mae’s small frame on the couch. Curled up and her face buries in her paws. Bea sighs, stamping her half-finished cigarette into the ashtray on the table and sits next to her.

She carefully pries her paws away from her face. The cat is asleep and she could hear soft purrs from her. She smiles, albeit sadly.

_“Dad, where’s mommy?”_

_“She’s at the hospital, sweetie. Mommy needs to stay there.”_

_“But why? Mommy stays with us!”_

_“She can’t, Beatrice… She had to stay there…”_

Her face scrunches into a scowl. Those words still ringing in her mind and repeat. She looks at the picture frame on the tv. It feels like it’s been years since her mother left both her and her father. She almost forgotten what she looks like.

But whenever she looks at the photograph, she could feel warmth from her mother’s smile as if she’s still alive. They were… happy in it. She couldn’t remember the last time she was that happy. When smiling and laughing is a common thing for the Santello’s.

She gets up to hold the photograph, to take a closer look. It feels like a dream that never happened. It felt fake… but real at the same time.  

She missed those days so much.

“BeaBea?” a soft voice calls her. She turns. Mae slowly sits up and rubs her eyes. The cat watches her for a moment, her brows slowly furrows into a frown. “Are you… crying?”

Bea didn’t realize she was till she wipes her claw over her eyes. She was, she is crying… Her claw is wet with tears. She quickly turns away to wipe them off, but Mae speaks up again, “I’m sorry…”  

The taller woman pauses for a moment. She wipes the tears away and slowly look back at Mae. “No… I’m sorry, Mae. I shouldn’t have snapped like that,” she says. Glancing at the photograph, she holds it firmly and brings it over to Mae.

Mae carefully hold the frame in her paws and studies the photo. “Your mom looks beautiful…” she comments. Bea smiles.

“She sure is…” Bea lets the cat studies the photo a bit longer and watches every action she does. Mae gently taps her paw on the glass, fearing she would break it too. The gator really appreciates the small gesture. She speaks up after a moment of silence, “She died…” she mutters.

Mae’s ears caught her words and looks up. She waits instead of pressing on. She doesn’t want to annoy her taller friend. Bea sighs, “Died of cancer. Senior year…” she continues.

“Oh…” Her ears droops and she frowns. She looks at the photo again, “No wonder you snapped… I’m sorry…” she responds.

“It’s alright. It’s not your fault, kiddo.”

“Awww Bea! Stop calling me that!” Bea quirks her brows. The cat already placed the frame on the table before she crossed her arms.

“Call you what?”

“Kiddo! I’m 20, you know?!” She exclaims and throw her arms in the air as if to prove her point. The gator smirks and rolls her eyes.

“What else do you want me to call you? Shorty? That doesn’t sound bad either.”

Mae squints her eyes at her taller friend. “That is very offensive for every short person in this world,” she mutters.

Bea shrugs, a smile plastered on her face, “I’m not the one that made you short,” she says. The cat huffs and drops her arms to her side.

“Fair point.”

Bea sighs and glances at the clock. 5:45 AM. She has time to check the account and her father in those free hours.

Oh yeah, she has to go to work too. 

_Shit._

She can’t possibly leave Mae by herself in her apartment. Who knows what else she would do if she’s away for the rest of the day?

But can she really afford the risk of bringing her to the store?

_Meh, as if dad would come to the store._

“Hey, Mae?”

“What is it, Bea?”

**Whoa, hold on. Are you serious with this?**

“Wanna go on an adventure with me later?”


End file.
